NASA has released this true-color satellite image of New York Harbor. It usually is full of crap, but this photo shows a lot more. All that vomiting green and brown you see? It's the effect of Hurricane Irene.

According to David Ralston, of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution:

The sediment flux from Irene is really massive...unusual, but not unheard of. One big event like this can move and deposit as much sediment as you might get in several years of regular flow on the Hudson

According to NASA, the different colors depend on the "amount and type of sediment, as the green, tan, and deep brown areas have varying degrees of suspended silt, sand, mud, leaf tannins, and other organic matter." Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey and other research centres are now analyzing this matter, trying to find out the exact amount of sewage, pesticides, and excess fertilizer that the hurricane put into the water. [NASA Goddard Flickr]